Beading Kit, storage & Caddy
This was in Michaels on the clearance shelves with a 70% discount because some beads had fallen out ($27.99 lowered to $7.49). It is supposedly a travel kit. On the sides are detachable containers of seed beads. The top has a selection of crimp beads and glass "fashion" beads. Lift the "fashion" bead tray to view the inside of the bucket which has a 3-in-1 pliers, a small spool each of beading wire and thread, six needles with a threader, a bead scoop and a little project booklet which teaches knots and a few basic jewelry designs.
This was an overall poorly conceived design. Taking off the "removable" containers attached to the sides was terrifying-- they are so firmly in place that I was very sure the whole thing would fling out of my arms and explode in a shower of seed beads. Strangely, the lid over the "fashion" beads has no latch, so without tape your beads are going to be all over the floor. Speaking of the "fashion" beads (I am being sarcastic) they were obviously put through a tumbler with gravel because the ones that aren't broken have major gouges and scratches. They're pretty, and not every single one is damaged, but it's strange the proportion that are. Since there is absolutely no chance I will be re-attaching these bizarre side containers, and the top doesn't have a working lid, I now have a weird looking and useless plastic bucket.
Even at the reduced price this was an impulse purchase; I mainly bought this for the seed beads which are a great selection of colors. The 3-in-1 pliers seem sturdy enough and I think they are sufficient for light crafting (a professional jeweler probably isn't buying bead kits in Michaels). For $7.50 I wouldn't have been able to buy so many seed beads, let alone the rest of the kit.
I would not recommend this product because I think it is poorly put together, is terribly designed to function as it claims, and is expensive. If I hadn't found this as a discounted item I would simply have purchased bulk packs of beads in the specific colors I wanted, as I needed them, and I never would have bought the large "fashion" beads. However, now that I have all of these beads and supplies I am excited to use them and think of new projects I may not have taken on otherwise.
At Michaels this was sold under the name Bead Landing Storage & Beading Kit. It is pretty clear that this gear is simply re-labelled by other stores, because it is also available as the Darice Beading Basics Kit In Caddy and from JoAnn's as the Jewelry Beading Basics Storage Caddy Kit.
Even at the reduced price this was an impulse purchase; I mainly bought this for the seed beads which are a great selection of colors. The 3-in-1 pliers seem sturdy enough and I think they are sufficient for light crafting (a professional jeweler probably isn't buying bead kits in Michaels). For $7.50 I wouldn't have been able to buy so many seed beads, let alone the rest of the kit.
I would not recommend this product because I think it is poorly put together, is terribly designed to function as it claims, and is expensive. If I hadn't found this as a discounted item I would simply have purchased bulk packs of beads in the specific colors I wanted, as I needed them, and I never would have bought the large "fashion" beads. However, now that I have all of these beads and supplies I am excited to use them and think of new projects I may not have taken on otherwise.
At Michaels this was sold under the name Bead Landing Storage & Beading Kit. It is pretty clear that this gear is simply re-labelled by other stores, because it is also available as the Darice Beading Basics Kit In Caddy and from JoAnn's as the Jewelry Beading Basics Storage Caddy Kit.
Jan. 9 -- Spied it in Walmart vaguely named as Glass Beading Kit for $19.97. It looks the same as mine but lists only 500g of seed beads, rather than 1000g, and 150g fashion beads, whereas mine lists 100g. Terrible.